The subject matter herein relates generally to electrical connectors with lead frame modules that provide shielded signal conductors.
Some electrical connectors include signal conductors held in discrete packages, referred to as contact modules or wafers, which are laterally stacked side by side within a connector housing. The electrical connectors may include ground shields disposed between the signal conductors of adjacent contact modules in order to reduce crosstalk between the signal conductors of the adjacent contact modules, and thereby improve signal integrity and connector performance relative to connectors that lack intervening ground shields. The electrical characteristics may be further improved by electrically connecting the ground shields along opposite sides of the contact modules to electrically common the ground shields.
Some electrical connectors are designed to include ground skewers that extend across the contact modules through defined openings in the contact modules to allow the ground skewers to mechanically engage the ground shields along opposite sides of the contact modules. However, designing and/or assembling an electrical connector with such ground skewers to electrically common the ground shields may increase the complexity and cost of the electrical connector due to additional parts, tooling, and labor relative to connectors that lack ground skewers. Reliability of the electrical connectors may also suffer because it may be difficult to ensure that the ground skewers align with openings of the contact modules and engage the ground shields. Furthermore, existing ground shields, with or without ground skewers, may not adequately block electrical interference (e.g., cross-talk) vertically transmitted between signal conductors within the same contact modules, especially at high signal speeds.
A need remains for an electrical connector that efficiently and reliably provides sufficient electrical shielding for the signal conductors of the connector to prohibit cross-talk and other interference, thereby improving signal integrity.